Latest news with #TimourAzhari
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Gulf Arab telecos compete for Syria fibre optic project
By Timour Azhari DAMASCUS: Syria's government is in talks with regional telecoms companies Zain, Etisalat , STC and Ooredoo for a roughly $300 million project to develop the country's fibre optic communications network, a senior Syrian official and a second official said. The talks with the Gulf Arab companies are part of growing global investor interest in Syria 's economy following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement last month that Washington would lift Syria sanctions. The Syrian project, dubbed SilkLink, aims to rapidly overhaul outdated communications infrastructure and set the country up as a potential "north-south and west-east digital corridor," the telecommunications ministry said. Saudi Arabia's STC declined to comment. Qatar's Ooreedo, the UAE's Etisalat and Kuwait's Zain did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. The deadline to submit proposals for the project is June 10. The two officials declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the talks. After 14 years of civil war and decades of Western sanctions, Syria's infrastructure shortfalls include some of the world's worst internet connectivity. It means many users are forced to use costly mobile data instead of a wireless connection to get basic tasks done online. Syria's new rulers aim to make rapid progress in improving public services almost six months after they ousted former strongman Bashar al-Assad. Their efforts have included signing last week a $7 billion power memorandum of understanding with a consortium of companies led by Qatar's UCC Holding to develop 5,000 megawatts of electricity. Syria also signed an $800 million MOU in May with DP World to develop Tartous port, two weeks after signing a 30-year deal with French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM that includes building a new berth at Latakia port.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Exclusive-US gives nod to Syria to bring foreign jihadist ex-rebels into army
By Timour Azhari and Suleiman Al-Khalidi DAMASCUS/AMMAN (Reuters) -The United States has given its blessing to a plan by Syria's new leadership to incorporate thousands of foreign jihadist former rebel fighters into the national army, provided that it does so transparently, President Donald Trump's envoy said. Three Syrian defence officials said that under the plan, some 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighbouring countries, would join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians. Asked by Reuters in Damascus whether Washington approved the integration of foreign fighters into Syria's new military, Thomas Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey who was named Trump's special envoy to Syria last month, said: "I would say there is an understanding, with transparency." He said it was better to keep the fighters, many of whom are "very loyal" to Syria's new administration, within a state project than to exclude them. The fate of foreigners who joined Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels during the 13-year war between rebel groups and President Bashar al-Assad has been one of the most fraught issues hindering a rapprochement with the West since HTS, a one-time offshoot of al Qaeda, toppled Assad and took power last year. At least until early May, the United States had been demanding the new leadership broadly exclude foreign fighters from the security forces. But Washington's approach to Syria has changed sharply since Trump toured the Middle East last month. Trump agreed to lift Assad-era sanctions on Syria, met Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh and named Barrack, a close friend, as his special envoy. Two sources close to the Syrian defence ministry told Reuters that Sharaa and his circle had been arguing to Western interlocutors that bringing foreign fighters into the army would be less of a security risk than abandoning them, which could drive them into the orbit of al Qaeda or Islamic State. The U.S. State Department and a Syrian government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. CHINESE CONCERNS Thousands of Sunni Muslim foreigners joined Syria's rebels early in the 13-year civil war to fight against Assad, who was himself aided by Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias. Some fighters formed their own factions, while others joined established groups such as Islamic State, which briefly declared a caliphate in swathes of Syria and Iraq before being routed by an array of forces backed both by the United States and Iran. Foreign fighters within HTS earned a reputation as loyal, disciplined and experienced militants, and formed the backbone of the group's elite so-called suicide units. They fought against Islamic State and against other wings of al Qaeda from 2016, when HTS broke away from the group founded by Osama bin Laden. The Uyghur fighters from China and Central Asia are members of the Turkistan Islamic Party, a group designated as terrorists by Beijing. A Syrian official and a foreign diplomat said China had sought to have the group's influence in Syria restricted. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said: "China hopes that Syria will oppose all forms of terrorism and extremist forces in response to the concerns of the international community." Osman Bughra, a TIP political official, told Reuters in a written statement that the group had officially dissolved and integrated into the Syrian army. "At present, the group operates entirely under the authority of the Ministry of Defence, adheres to national policy, and maintains no affiliations with external entities or groups," he said. In December, the appointment of a handful of foreign jihadists who were part of HTS's senior leadership to top military posts had alarmed Western governments, raising concerns over the direction of Syria's new Islamist leadership. Demands to freeze the appointments and expel rank-and-file foreign fighters became a key point of contention with Washington and other Western countries up until the week of Trump's landmark meeting with Sharaa. Sharaa has said that foreign fighters and their families may be granted Syrian citizenship due to their role in fighting Assad. Abbas Sharifa, a Damascus-based expert on jihadist groups, said the fighters being included in the army had shown loyalty to Syria's leadership and were "ideologically filtered." But "if you abandon them they become prey to ISIS or other radical groups" he said.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security, sources say
By Timour Azhari and Suleiman Al-Khalidi DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said. The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the U.S. encourages the new Islamist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel and Israel eases its bombardment of Syria. They also build on back-channel talks via intermediaries since Islamist rebels Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, said two Syrian and two Western sources, as well as a regional intelligence source familiar with the matter. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject for two nations with no official ties and a history of enmity. The direct talks and their scope have not been previously reported. On the Syrian side, the sources said contacts have been led by senior security official Ahmad al-Dalati, who was appointed governor of the province of Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after the fall of Assad. Earlier this week, Dalati was also put in charge of security in the southern province of Sweida, home to Syria's Druze minority. Reuters could not determine who participated on Israel's side, though two of the sources said they were security officials. Three of the sources said there had been several rounds of in-person meetings in the border region, including in territory controlled by Israel. Israel's foreign ministry and Syrian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Earlier this month, Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa confirmed indirect talks with Israel that he said were aimed at calming tensions, a striking admission that followed a Reuters report that the UAE was mediating such talks. Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and took more territory in the aftermath of Assad's ouster in December, citing lingering concerns over the extremist past of the country's new rulers. It has also waged a campaign of aerial bombardment that destroyed much of the country's military infrastructure, while at the same time lobbying Washington to keep the country weak and decentralized. But the bombing and the criticism have subsided in recent weeks. On May 14, a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Sharaa in Riyadh upended decades of U.S. Syria policy, and signalled to Israel's right-wing government that it should work to reach understandings with Sharaa. The regional intelligence source described Trump's engagement with Sharaa as a pivotal part of a realignment in U.S. policy that upset Israel's post-Assad strategy of exploiting Syria's fragmentation. BROADER UNDERSTANDINGS? The relative calm in May has also seen a reduction in tensions around Sweida, which saw days of bloody clashes between Druze armed factions, some of which enjoy Israeli backing, and Sunni Muslim fighters last month. Amid the violence, Israel had launched a series of airstrikes, including one just outside the presidential palace overlooking Damascus, which it framed as a warning over threats against the Druze, an offshoot of Islam with adherents in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. While the direct talks are currently focused on joint security, such as preventing conflict and reducing Israeli incursions into Syrian border villages, two of the sources said they may help pave the way for broader political understandings. "For now, they are about peace, as in the absence of war, rather than normalization," said the person familiar with backchannel talks. Trump indicated after meeting Sharaa that the Syrian leader was willing to eventually normalize ties with Israel, while adding that it would take some time. Sharaa has not commented on the statement, saying instead that he supported a return to the terms of a 1974 ceasefire agreement that created a U.N. buffer zone in the Golan Heights. Syria's new rulers have made repeated efforts to show they pose no threat to Israel, meeting representatives of the Jewish community in Damascus and abroad and detaining two senior members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which participated in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. A letter sent by Syria's foreign ministry to the U.S. State Department last month, seen by Reuters, said "we will not allow Syria to become a source of threat to any party, including Israel." More recently, Syria's leadership has shown goodwill by approving the handover of a trove of long-dead Israeli master spy Eli Cohen's belongings.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Syria plans to print currency in UAE and Germany, ending Russian role
By Timour Azhari DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria plans to print a newly-designed currency in the UAE and Germany instead of Russia, three sources said, reflecting rapidly improving ties with Gulf Arab and Western states as a move to loosen U.S. sanctions offers Damascus new opportunities. In another sign of deepening ties between Syria's new rulers and the UAE, Damascus on Thursday signed an $800 million initial deal with the UAE's DP World to develop Tartus port - the first such deal since President Donald Trump's surprise announcement on Tuesday that U.S. sanctions on Syria would be lifted. Syrian authorities began exploring the possibility of printing currency in Germany and the UAE earlier this year and the efforts gained steam after the European Union eased some of its sanctions on Damascus in February. The redesign will remove former Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad's face from one of the Syrian pound's purple-hued denominations that remains in circulation. Syria's new rulers are trying to move quickly to revamp an economy in tatters after 13 years of war. It has recently been further hampered by a banknote shortage. One of Assad's key backers, Russia, printed Syria's currency during more than a decade of civil war after the EU imposed sanctions that led to the termination of a contract with a European firm. The new rulers in Damascus have maintained ties with Moscow even after Assad fled to Russia last December, receiving several cash shipments in recent months along with fuel and wheat as Russia looks to retain its two military bases in Syria's coastal region. That has caused discomfort among European states seeking to limit Russia's influence amid the war in Ukraine. In February, the EU suspended sanctions on Syria's financial sector, specifically allowing for currency printing. Syrian authorities are in advanced talks on a currency-printing deal with UAE-based company Oumolat, which the country's central bank governor and finance minister visited during a trip to the UAE earlier this month, two Syrian financial sources said. Oumolat did not respond to a request for comment. In Germany, state-backed firm Bundesdruckerei and private company Giesecke+Devrient had shown interest, a Syrian source and a European official said, but it was not clear which might print the currency. A Bundesdruckerei spokesperson said it was not in talks for a currency-printing deal with the Syrian state. Giesecke+Devrient declined to comment. The UAE foreign ministry, the German government and Syrian central bank governor Abdelkader Husriyeh did not respond to requests for comment. Syrian pound notes are in short supply today, though officials and bankers give differing reasons for why this is. Officials say ordinary citizens and also malign actors are hoarding pounds, while bankers say it is Syrian authorities who are keeping the flow to a trickle, partly in an effort to manage the exchange rate. Banks regularly turn away depositors and businesses when they try to access their savings, piling pressure on an economy already being squeezed by new competition from cheap imports. The Syrian pound was trading on Friday at around 10,000 per U.S. dollar on the black market, strengthening from around 15,000 before Assad was toppled. One U.S. dollar was worth just 50 pounds in 2011, before the civil war.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Too good to be true': investors eye Syria after Trump sanctions move
By Timour Azhari and Karin Strohecker DAMASCUS/LONDON (Reuters) - An end to U.S. sanctions on Syria is expected to mark a new era for an economy devastated by 13 years of war, opening the way for investment flows from the Syrian diaspora, Turkey, and Gulf states that back the new government. Business executives, Syria's finance minister, and analysts told Reuters they anticipated an influx of capital into the bankrupt economy once sanctions are lifted in line with President Donald Trump's surprise announcement, notwithstanding the many challenges still facing the deeply-fractured nation. Billionaire Syrian businessman Ghassan Aboud told Reuters he was making plans to invest, and expected other Syrians with international business ties to be doing the same. "They were scared to come and work in Syria due to the sanctions risks ... This will completely disappear now," said Aboud, who lives in the UAE. "I'm of course planning to enter the market, for two reasons: I want to help the country recover in any way possible, and second, the ground is fertile: any seed planted today can result in a good profit margin," he said, outlining a multi-billion dollar plan to boost Syrian art, culture and education. The lifting of sanctions would radically reshape an economy already set on a new course by Syria's new rulers, who have pursued free-market policies and shifted away from the state-led model adopted during five decades of rule by the Assad family. The United States and other Western powers imposed tough sanctions on Syria during the war that spiralled out of protests against Bashar al-Assad's rule in 2011. Washington kept them in place after he was toppled in December, as it formulated its Syria policy and monitored the actions of the new administration led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander. Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which both support Sharaa's government, had urged Washington to lift the sanctions. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday there would be many investment opportunities once that happens. The conflict has turned many urban areas to rubble and killed hundreds of thousands of people. More than 90% of the 23 million Syrians live below the poverty line, U.N. agencies say. 'There's a real chance for a transformational change in Syria and the broader region," said Timothy Ash, senior sovereign strategist for emerging markets at RBC BlueBay Asset Management. Turkish firms and banks are expected to benefit from the lifting of sanctions, said Onur Genc, chief executive officer of financial group BBVA, whose group comprises Garanti BBVA, the second-largest private bank in Turkey. "For Turkey, it's going to be positive because there's a lot of reconstruction needed in Syria. Who's there to do that? The Turkish companies," he told Reuters. "The lifting of the sanctions would allow the Turkish companies to go there now much better, and the Turkish banks to be able to finance them - so it will help," he said. Turkey strongly backed Syria's opposition during the war, which decimated a diverse and productive economy. It more than halved between 2010 and 2021, official Syrian data cited by the World Bank in 2024 showed. However, this was likely an underestimate, the bank said. 'NATIONWIDE CONSTRUCTION SITE' Syria's pound has strengthened since Trump's announcement. Currency traders said it was hovering between 9,000 and 9,500 to the dollar on Wednesday, compared to 12,600 earlier this week. Before the war in 2011, it traded at 47. Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh told Reuters that investors from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, among others, had been making inquiries about investing. "Syria today is a land of opportunities, with immense potential across every sector—from agriculture to oil, tourism, infrastructure, and transportation," he told Reuters. "We call on all investors to take this opportunity." Watching footage of Trump meeting Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday at his Damascus office, Karam Bechara, general manager of Shahba Bank in Syria, described excitement in the business community. "It's too good to be true," he said. "We're on the right track now internationally unless something happens in Syria that derails the process,' he said. Syria remains fragile. Some armed groups have yet to turn their weapons over to the government, Kurdish autonomy demands are a point of friction, and sectarian violence has left minorities afraid of Sharaa's rule, despite his promises of protection and inclusive governance. Israel opposes Sharaa, saying he remains a jihadist, and has bombed Syria repeatedly. Jihad Yazigi, editor of a leading newsletter on Syria's economy, Syria Report, said the U.S. decision was transformative because it sent "a very strong political signal" and opened the way for its reintegration with the Gulf, international financial organisations, and Syria's big diaspora in the West. Imad al-Khatib, a Lebanese investor, said he had accelerated his plans to invest in Syria after Trump's announcement. Together with Lebanese and Syrian partners, he carried out a feasibility study for a $200 million waste sorting plant in Damascus two months ago. On Wednesday morning, he sent a team of specialists to Syria on Wednesday to begin preparations. "This is the first step ... and larger steps will follow, God willing. We will certainly work to attract new investors because Syria is much larger than Lebanon," he told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Libby George in London; Laila Bassam and Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry, editing by Deepa Babington)
